Insurance, in the capacity of medical referee to the Guardian and 
Scottish Equitable Societies. 
Distinguished by his diagnostic skill and his thorough knowledge 
of therapeutics, but for his modest and retiring disposition Dr. 
Robertson might, in the opinion of competent judges, have taken a 
very distinguished place as a consulting physician ; and, owing to his 
high reputation as a mathematician and a statist, he was eminently 
fitted for the two appointments which he held at the time of his 
death. His capacity for figures was of a very high order. He did not 
hesitate, however, to facilitate his elaborate calculations by the use 
of the arithmometer, which he was able to turn to the best account, 
owing to his remarkable memory and his powers of numerical 
combination. 
Hor were his acquirements confined to physical and mathematical 
science. While well versed in classical as well as modern literature, 
he was an excellent linguist, being familiar with French, German, 
Italian, and Turkish, and possessing a fair acquaintance with Spanish 
and Dutch. 
In social life he was a universal favourite, in consequence of his 
kindly .and genial disposition, his fund of anecdote, and his well- 
stored mind. One of the original members of the Edinburgh 
Evening Club, he seldom failed to appear at its bi-weekly meetings, 
where the blank which his lamented death has caused will not 
easily be supplied. His cordial sympathy with the young was an 
interesting feature in his character. He was a devoted member 
of the Church of Scotland, and his political tendencies were Con- 
servative. 
In connection with his official appointment in the Registrar- 
General’s Department, it may be mentioned that the office of Joint 
Deputy Keepers of the Records was held, in the first instance, by 
Dr. Robertson’s grandfather and granduncle, in succession to whom 
it was held, also jointly, by his father and uncle, and singly, at a 
later period, by his brother George Brown Robertson, Writer to the 
Signet, who died in 1873. Accordingly, the official connection of 
the family with the General Register House extended over a period 
of upwards of a hundred years. 
Dr. Robertson became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1860. 
His death occurred at his residence in Albany Street on the 25th of 
